Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Bush are expected to make progress at a meeting next week on a civilian nuclear power agreement, a Western official and analysts said.The two leaders, who have been promoting nuclear energy as a clean alternative, have made similar proposals on providing nuclear power to developing countries while building in safeguards for non-proliferation of weapons."I think it is possible you're going to see further discussion of how to advance that cooperation" when the presidents meet on the eve of the July 15-17 Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, a Western diplomat said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.Rose Gottemoeller, the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said the potential joint project was "probably the biggest story coming out of the Petersburg summit."... http://www.usatoday.com

The dollar fell a second straight week against the yen and euro as investors speculated that signs the economy is slowing will bring the Federal Reserve closer to a pause after two years of raising borrowing costs. Traders pared bets yesterday that the Fed will lift its overnight lending rate between banks for an 18th consecutive time next month after U.S. job growth in June fell short of economists' forecasts. At the same time, expectations grew that central banks in Japan and Europe will raise rates in the next month. ``There's certainly a transition going on in terms of interest-rate policy,'' said Nick Bennenbroek, a currency strategist in New York at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. ``A decline in the dollar against the euro and yen is what we'd expect as the U.S. economy moderates in the second half of the year and the Fed eventually reaches a pause.'' ...http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=au_S3cUDTX6U&refer=top_world_news

Three American troops were killed Saturday in fighting in the western province of Anbar, the U.S. military said. They were the first U.S. fatalities reported in Iraq in four days and only the eighth so far this month. A U.S. statement said the three were assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and died due to "enemy action" in the predominantly Sunni Arab province. No further details were released. Also Saturday, gunmen in two cars stopped a vehicle in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, forced the two passengers to get out and killed them in front of horrified bystanders, according to police Lt. Maithem Abdel-Razaq. In the same neighborhood, gunmen opened fire on a Shiite family as it was moving out of the city, wounding five members, police said. Dora has a mixed Sunni-Shiite population and has become one of the most dangerous areas in the capital for sectarian violence. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2168054

The FBI has drafted sweeping legislation that would require Internet service providers to create wiretapping hubs for police surveillance and force makers of networking gear to build in backdoors for eavesdropping, CNET News.com has learned. FBI Agent Barry Smith distributed the proposal at a private meeting last Friday with industry representatives and indicated it would be introduced by Sen. Mike DeWine, an Ohio Republican, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. The draft bill would place the FBI's Net-surveillance push on solid legal footing. At the moment, it's ensnared in a legal challenge from universities and some technology companies that claim the Federal Communications Commission's broadband surveillance directives exceed what Congress has authorized. The FBI claims that expanding the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act is necessary to thwart criminals and terrorists who have turned to technologies like voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. ...http://news.com.com/FBI%20plans%20new%20Net-tapping%20push/2100-1028_3-6091942.html

Fire ripped through a paint factory in the Kenyan capital on Saturday, killing four people and leaving another seven missing feared dead, police said.After a machine apparently exploded, a huge fire sent smoke billowing into the sky over the factory next to a busy highway in north Nairobi, witnesses said.Workers said some victims were unable to escape because managers had locked the company's heavy metal doors -- but police disputed that."We have retrieved four bodies. We are trying our best to search for the seven other bodies we believe are inside," area police boss Julius Muthuri told Reuters.Distraught relatives and friends crowded round the factory -- which makes paint, adhesives and other chemicals -- some even trying to get in before the blaze was over....http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/07/08/kenya.fire.reut/index.html?section=cnn_world

Astronauts Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum climbed out of an airlock on the international space station Saturday, starting a spacewalk to fix the complex's rail transporter and test whether a boom can be used to make repairs to the space shuttle. The planned 6 1/2-hour jaunt, which began as the space station passed over Asia 220 miles below, was the first spacewalk for Fossum and the fourth for Sellers. "Enjoy the view, gentlemen!" NASA communicator Megan McArthur said from Houston. Both astronauts did. When Mission Control pointed out to Sellers that he could view Britain over his left shoulder, the British-born spacewalker said, "Wow! Oh, my goodness. It's a beautiful day in Ireland." As he looked down at the Caspian Sea several minutes later, Fossum said, "Ha, ha, ha. This is a good view. I'm in a dream; nobody wake me up." ...http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2167986